Thursday, March 7, 2019

(WASHINGTON, DC) -- The House Energy and Commerce Committee
continued its series of climate hearings on Thursday by slamming the Energy
Department for not moving forward in implementing congressionally-mandated
energy conservation standards for washers, dryers and other appliances.

“In the last two years, the Energy Department has blown
through 16 legally-mandated deadlines to finalize standards for appliances,”
said Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., the chairman of the committee. The standards
require manufacturers to sell products that consume less energy, thus helping
to contribute to lower emissions.

Instead of moving forward and updating the efficiency
standards, Pallone said, the agency has spent most of its time dismantling
regulations, and is currently crafting a draft rule to get rid of efficiency
standards for light bulbs, which are projected to save the average household
$100 a year in 2025.

DOE’s ‘disrespectful’ response

In requesting an update last year, Pallone said the Energy
Department sent him a three-line response with internet links. He called it one
of the most “disrespectful” responses he has ever received from an agency. He
resent the letter last month, and although more accommodating, the response
left a lot unanswered on the 16 standards that are legally mandated.

Daniel Simmons, assistant secretary of the Energy
Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, said he is
committed to completing the standards, but not in the next six months. He said
there are stringent requirements under the law to follow in developing the
standards that will take them time.

Pallone was unconvinced, saying “it just seems to me you’re
not going to follow the law.”

Major cuts coming in budget

The hearing comes as media outlets reported on Thursday that
the forthcoming fiscal year 2020 budget would slash the Office of Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy by 70 percent, from $2.3 billion to $700
million.

About Me

Joel Myer works at an electrical utility in Washington State.
Prior to his current employment, he worked for nine years at the City of Shelton as Special Projects Coordinator.
In 1992, Joel served a three-month term as an appointed Mason County Commissioner. As far as it is known, he still holds the record for the shortest term for a county commissioner in Washington State.
From 1991 through 1992 Joel worked with Washington State University Cooperative Extension, where he conducted an extensive study of the special forest products industry and its economic value to the Pacific Northwest.
From 1980 to 1991 he was News Director at KMAS Radio in Shelton.
Joel is a 1991 graduate of the Evergreen State College, where his focus of study was economics.
Joel Myer is one of the 2018 award winners, Foundation for Water & Energy Education Haiku Contest.
He has been teaching himself to play the ukulele (with limited success) since 2003.